Green Beans and Bacon

Original Recipe: Here

o   2 ½ lbs green beans, trimmed

o   Kosher salt

o   ½ lb bacon, roughly chopped

o   1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

o   3 cloves garlic, minced

o   1 tsp red pepper flakes

o   Lemon juice

§  Toss grean beans into a large pot of boiling salted water and cook until bright green in color and crisp-tender, about 5 min.

§  Drain beans and shock in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain again and pat dry.

§  Cook bacon in a large, heavy saute pan until crisp, about 5 min. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Spoon off the excess bacon grease, leaving 2 Tbsp in the pan.

§  Add onion to pan and saute until soft and very tender, about 4-5min

§  Sprinkle in the garlic and red pepper flakes and saute until just fragrant, about 1 more minute.

§  Add the green beans and cook until heated through, 5-6 minutes.

§  Return bacon to the pan, pour in lemon juice and toss. Season with salt and pepper.

If you're making that delicious Bacon-Wrapped Roasted Turkey you're probably wondering, what do I do with all this bacon? Well, you could absolutely just serve bacon as a side, or eat it up while you're cooking the rest of the sides. Or, you can skip the green bean casserole and freshen up the plate a bit with this delicious recipe I first saw on a Food Network Thanksgiving special. I highly recommend putting in the effort to get fresh green beans and trim them, I do that the night before to save on prep time. If you're using the bacon from the turkey, make sure to continue cooking the bacon (I get a cast-iron skillet heated and ready for it as I remove it from the turkey). The bacon will still be very soft, and you'll want fully cooked bacon with a crunch to it for this. This will also provide you with the bacon grease you need to cook the onion in.